Donna Douglas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donna Douglas (born Doris Ione Smith; September 26, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American actress and singer, known for her role as Elly May Clampett in CBS's The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971). Following her acting career, Douglas became a real estate agent, gospel singer, inspirational speaker, and author of books for children and adults.

Although Douglas was an active actress in the 1960s, she was still relatively unknown when selected from among 500 young actresses to work alongside veteran actor and dancer Buddy Ebsen on The Beverly Hillbillies. This series ran for nine consecutive seasons, beginning in 1962 and ending in 1971. Continually typecast as a result of her Hillbillies role, Douglas decided to focus on her career as a gospel singer.

During the 1966 summer hiatus of The Beverly Hillbillies, Douglas made her only starring feature film appearance, cast as Frankie in Fred de Cordova's Frankie and Johnny (1966) alongside Elvis Presley. The film proved popular but it did little to advance Douglas' big-screen career.

With the 1973 death of Hillbillies co-star Irene Ryan, and Max Baer Jr.'s refusal to participate, Douglas joined Nancy Kulp and Buddy Ebsen in 1981 as the only original cast members to appear in the reunion movie, Return of the Beverly Hillbillies. Douglas was a guest star on a number of other television programs and the subject of paper dolls, dolls, coloring books, and various toys during the height of the show's popularity. In a 2003 interview with "Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict", she summed up her views on the role: "Elly May was like a slice out of my life. She is a wonderful little door opener for me because people love her, and they love the Hillbillies. Even to this day it's shown every day somewhere. But, as with any abilities, she may open a door for you, but you have to have substance or integrity to advance you through that door."

In 1992, Douglas and Baer attended Buddy Ebsen's 84th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills, California. In 1993, Douglas, Ebsen, and Baer reunited on The Jerry Springer Show, and for a final time in a CBS-TV television special, The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies.

In December 2010, Mattel released a new collection of three Barbies called the Classic TV Collection. These dolls were Samantha Stephens (from Bewitched, played by Elizabeth Montgomery), Jeannie (from I Dream of Jeannie, played by Barbara Eden) and Elly May Clampett.

The ENFJ personality type is the action-oriented, people-centred character looking for and making connections between people. They are excellent glue for the team, assuming control and making sure that everything is planned, scheduled and organised, and that people are happy. They are excellent networkers who tune into what others want and are well-liked and popular among their colleagues. They have an innate sense of what is required and can genuinely make others feel really special. Consummate planners and organisers, they can juggle masses of activities and tasks at any one time, rarely dropping the ball and making sure each activity is given the right amount of attention and loving care.

The ENFJ personality type is the people organiser, warm, harmonious and an enthusiastic champion of people who just wants to ‘do good.’ They make sure the needs of the people are paramount and taken care of, then they will want to plan and get on with it. They can generally be found at the emotional heart of a group or body and will be the one making sure things get done. Like the ENTJ, they excel at getting on and doing but with a much more people, as well as task focus, but with no less energy, commitment or vigour. Articulate and confident the ENFJ will be persuasive and tenacious; the one voted the leader or committee chairperson. They will look for and make connections between people, be excellent glue for the team, everyone knows they can depend on the ENFJ. An ENFJ will use their considerable energies and enthusiasm to make things happen and these characteristics are infectious and can be excellent at creating a feeling of 'team' and keeping morale high.

The ENFJ personality type has high drive, bundles of energy and a commitment to ‘the cause,’ (whatever that cause is) which borders on the evangelical. Their energy levels increase the more people they have to meet and the more activities they have to arrange. Consummate planners and organisers, they can juggle masses of activities and tasks at any one time, rarely dropping the ball and making sure each activity is given the right amount of attention and loving care. This desire to ‘get it done’ can at times mean that the ENFJ becomes inflexible and a ‘controlling parent’ in their desire to ‘finish what we’ve started.’ Under such pressure they can lose their sense of balance and perspective but will ultimately bounce back because that is just what the ENFJ is built for.

As ‘Thinking’ is their weaker function, the ENFJ may suffer at times from being overly subjective and lacking a cooler, slightly more dispassionate eye on people and situations. This also means the ENFJ may bite off more that they can chew as their first priority is to say ‘yes’ and take the pain away for others. During such times the ENFJ may feel weighed down by the amount of work to which they have committed and so may see themselves as ‘victim,’ feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated. They want to please and make sure things run like clockwork and when others let them down the ENFJ can be very disappointed. This desire to ‘do good’ can also mean that the ENFJ sees pleasing others as far more important than pleasing themselves and so they may run the risk of trading off honesty for harmony, keeping the peace rather than telling it like it is. At times they may also rely too much on their intuitive understanding of individuals, thus failing to make logical, empirical decisions based on objective facts and evidence, and the ENFJ may see good where none exists. Their 'N' perspective also means that the ENFJ may fail to see the smaller 'facts,' focusing instead on 'global harmony.' This would see the ENFJ move too quickly and make decisions based on a scant amount of facts. Their sensitivity can also work two ways. Sure, the ENFJ will be sensitive to the needs of others but this sensitivity can mean the ENFJ is overly reactive to perceived criticism of them. In these instances, the ENFJ may become self-indulgent and feel that their good intentions are being undervalued; but only until they are needed again.